Complications of acute otitis media in children in southern Finland

Zygomatic Abscess with Temporomandibular Joint Effusion Complicating Acute Otitis Media

“…Streptococcus pneumoniae is the most frequently cultured bacteria in cases of both AOM and its complications (21). In addition, Pseudomonas aeruginosa, Streptococcus pyogenes, and Staphylococcus aureus are frequently found in cultures of mastoid effusion in case of acute mastoiditis (3,15). Anaerobic otitis media or mastoiditis tends to follow a subacute and subclinical course in comparison with the course of aerobic illness (22).…”

“…Subperiosteal abscesses are the most frequent complications of ACM (1)(2)(3)(4)(5)(6). Zygomatic abscesses are a form of mastoid subperiosteal abscesses.…”

Otitis Media Complications

“…Anthonsen [6] reports that 35 % of children with AM were under antibiotics at the moment of the complication and there was no difference in the development of an abscess among children receiving or not the antibiotic (odds ratio 0.97). Similarly, Leskinen in Finland [13] reported that 55 % of children with AM were receiving antibiotics when admitted to hospital. They found no correlation between the prior intake of antibiotics and the percentage of mastoidectomies that had to be performed for AM.…”

Complications of acute otitis media in children

“…There is a male predominance, and the peak incidence of AM is between 0 to 3 years of age [8][9][10]. The current incidence of AM in children is 1.1 to 3.8/100,000 [10,11] and subperiosteal abscess is found in 8% to 66% of the children with AM [5••,12,13]. The incidence of AM seems to be associated with the use of antibiotics in the treatment of AOM.…”

“…Most of the children have strong local or general signs of infection [10]. A high fever associated with AOM should be considered to be a possible sign of complicated AOM with bacteremia [18].…”